{"id":27769,"date":"2025-02-21T09:08:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T09:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27769"},"modified":"2025-02-21T09:08:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T09:08:29","slug":"dez-bryant-stirs-controversy-with-cryptic-message-after-zack-martins-retirement-fueling-speculation-about-jason-garrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27769","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Dez Bryant stirs controversy with cryptic message after Zack Martin&#8217;s retirement, fueling speculation about Jason Garrett.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dek prose mb-2.5 italic text-secondary\">Dez Bryant is holding onto his feelings about his former coach eight years after departing Dallas.<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex-row flex-wrap items-center text-primary\">\n<div class=\"author-link mr-2.5 flex items-center text-sm\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full max-w-full object-contain object-center px-4 lg:px-0\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Cowboys-news-Did-Dez-Bryant-take-a-shot-at-Jason-Garrett-after-Zack-Martin-s-retirement.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"Dez Bryant and Zack Martin in Dallas Cowboys uniforms with former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett with crying laughing emojis.\" \/><\/p>\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\">Legendary\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0right guard\u00a0Zack Martin\u00a0has decided to\u00a0retire after 11 seasons in the NFL. The former first-round draft pick played his entire career with the Cowboys, entering the league in 2014. Martin helped his team reach the playoffs six times and Dallas won the NFC East five times during his tenure. Unfortunately, for Martin, the Cowboys didn\u2019t have much postseason success as the team hasn\u2019t advanced beyond the divisional round since 1995, when the venerable lineman was five years old.<\/p>\n<p>Martin spent six of his 11 pro seasons under former Cowboys head coach\u00a0Jason Garrett. While Garrett went a respectable 85-67 during his time leading Dallas, he became known for his inability to maximize the roster\u2019s potential and win big games. Garrett departed Dallas in 2019 with a 2-3 postseason record.<\/p>\n<p>After Martin announced his retirement, former Cowboys wideout\u00a0Dez Bryant\u00a0dropped a cryptic post\u00a0on X that included a crying laughing emoji and a GIF of Garrett awkwardly smiling as he turns to face a camera.<\/p>\n<p>Is the former receiver taking a shot at his former coach? Well, there\u2019s not much to go on here. But, yes. Of course he is.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>It\u2019s never too late to take a shot at former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3262900\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3262900\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3262900\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Bryant-and-Garrett.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Bryant-and-Garrett.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Bryant-and-Garrett.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Bryant-and-Garrett.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Bryant-and-Garrett.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Bryant-and-Garrett.jpg?resize=150,84 150w\" alt=\"Oct 1, 2017; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett meets with receiver Dez Bryant (88) prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at AT&amp;T Stadium. \" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3262900\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"not-prose flex w-full flex-col gap-2 divide-y divide-solid divide-[#58585820] bg-[#FAFAFA] px-4 pt-5\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col\">\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\">Bryant is all too familiar with Garrett, as he played for the coach during his entire eight-year run in Dallas. Bryant went 1-2 with the team in the playoffs with two divisional round losses to the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys then released Bryant after the 2017 season when he was just 29 years old. So Dez likely feels some sort of way about Garrett.<\/p>\n<p>While Garrett has found some success as an analyst for NBC\u2019s\u00a0<em>Football Night in America<\/em>, the unavoidable narrative that will forever follow the former coach is his legacy of failing to win a Super Bowl, or even reach a conference championship, with a wealth of talent that included Martin, Bryant, Jason Witten, Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and others.<\/p>\n<p>Ware is already in the Hall of Fame\u00a0and Witten and Martin are headed for Canton, Ohio as soon as they are eligible. Martin is currently getting his flowers after a remarkable career in which he had\u00a0more All-Pro selections than accepted holding penalties. The fact that that group was unable to win a title is baffling. And, apparently, Bryant is still salty about it. But Garrett shouldn\u2019t feel too bad. Dez also had\u00a0issues with Mike McCarthy.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys will now move forward with\u00a0new head coach Brian Schottenheimer. The longtime offensive coordinator will attempt to get the most out of Dak Prescott and company and hopefully avoid Garrett\u2019s legacy of missed opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dez Bryant is holding onto his feelings about his former coach eight years after departing Dallas. Legendary\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0right guard\u00a0Zack Martin\u00a0has decided to\u00a0retire after 11 seasons in the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Dez Bryant stirs controversy with cryptic message after Zack Martin&#039;s retirement, fueling speculation about Jason Garrett.&quot; - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Dez Bryant stirs controversy with cryptic message after Zack Martin&#039;s retirement, fueling speculation about Jason Garrett.&quot; - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dez Bryant is holding onto his feelings about his former coach eight years after departing Dallas. 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